Gluten-free and SCD

Vanilla Cupcakes with Coconut Cream Chocolate Frosting

One factor of Valentine’s you can always count on is chocolate, and lots of it. The only chocolate in this dessert is in the frosting, the cupcakes themselves are vanilla. They have a lovely, moist crumb and are made with coconut flour.

It’s been a while since I’ve done any SCD or grain-free baking, so I thought I’d change that. Oh, how I forgot how much I like the simplicity of it. No needing to blend multiple flours, etc. Don’t let that misguide you that gluten-free baking is not easy – it is easy! – however, I know that some people like simplifying their baking even more and think that blending multiple flours is too much.

So let’s be easy on ourselves this Valentine’s Day and make cupcakes that only need one kind of flour, and for that matter very little: only 1/4 cup!

I’ve become something of a social chocolate eater. I’ll eat chocolate if it’s around, if I’m with company. Most of the time, though, I won’t touch it. I had a chocolate bar and I didn’t have it for three days, it did not tempt me in the least and I could have let it wait even longer. But I’m living with siblings who will eat it if I’m not, so I ripped the wrapper open and ate it, even taking a picture when I saw a face in it. (My sister thinks I’ve watched too much Boosh and Luxury Comedy. Not to say that I wasn’t funny or didn’t have a sense of humour before, but my parents think and agree I’ve become funnier since watching the Boosh and were the first to point it out to me.)

Anyway, back to this chocolate thing. With Valentine’s Day, chocolate consumption is sort of inevitable. I was determined not to feature chocolate at all, when I found myself dipping a spoon into the cocoa powder and next thing I knew I’d made frosting for cupcakes. I am not into chocolate right now, I’m really not. I just couldn’t make any other kind of frosting at the time. I’d really wanted a pink hued frosting, although I’m glad I didn’t end up being able to do that as it might’ve been pink overload with the photo shoot setup. (I got the cake stand for my birthday from the Kitchenware Market at Granville Island.)

There was a point with these cupcakes when I nearly tweeted that I’d forgot to add honey. Thank goodness I didn’t. I was admiring the domed cupcakes in the oven and I realized – darn! I’d forgot to add the honey. I was surprised, then, when my sister had one and she said it was really good. I tasted it and was pleased, thinking it was a miracle.

Hours later as I’m typing up the recipe for this post and reviewing the steps in my head, I remember: I did add the honey, after I’d beaten the egg yolks and before I added the vanilla pudding. For a while, I was convinced I’d done something miraculous.

These cupcakes are almost SCD and grain-free, except for the vanilla pudding that uses cornstarch to thicken it. Instead of the pudding, you may use the same amount of custard and then it would completely be SCD and grain-free.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a standard muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Beat egg yolks until thick. When you lift the whisk, you should see a ribbon or a visible trail form briefly on the surface before merging back with the yolks. Mix in the honey and vanilla pudding.

Use a rubber spatula to fold in the coconut flour and baking soda, being sure the batter is smooth and without lumps. Add vanilla extract.

Beat the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks form. Gently fold into the batter without deflating them.

Portion the batter amongst the cupcake liners, filling halfway full. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. The cupcakes may rise slightly to have domes, although they will flatten before they’re done and taken out of the oven. Cool cupcakes in the tin completely before frosting and serving.

Thanks, I hope you like it! The recipe for the frosting is really simple and is multi-purposed. The batch I made for the cupcakes actually tasted just like So Delicious’s coconut milk chocolate ice cream.

This post made me laugh, Zoe! I’ve totally done the thing where I’m convinced I haven’t added an ingredient and that I’ve created a miracle recipe! LOL There have been a few (very few) occasions where it really has happened though. ;-) Sometimes we need the instant replay for our baking, don’t we?

Haha, yes we do need that instant replay sometimes, Shirley! I had a somewhat similar situation yesterday, although a completely different scenario and in which I was exhausted, so I wasn’t at my most alert needless to say.